Ok , let's try to reason this response , apparently 270 million go through UK airports and there has been 387 arrests for drunk behaviour ( feb 16 to February 17 ) I've never seen drunken behaviour in the departure lounge or bars and restaurants , I have seen people the worse for wear and smelling strongly of drink , and my wife has to occasionally put up with passengers being like that before they have even entered the departure lounge .
I'm aware that it is an offence to be drunk aboard an aircraft and passengers have to be checked at the departure gate ( with boarding card and passport ) before they enter the aircraft , I would guess at this point the gate staff would refuse entry to anyone totally drunk , but do the 3rd party agents just ignore this and pass the problem onto the cabin crew ? Because if drunken people were not allowed on aircraft that would explain the video footage of a Ryanair plane with what could only be described as a drunken rave , or have they only been served 2 drinks and just can't hold their liquor ?
I agree that duty free shops and departure lounge bars and restaurants have an important part to play in selling alcohol in a responsible way , and so do the airlines , but I've seen people on board able to buy 2 doubles each at the same time rather than having to purchase again later ( easyjet flight ) . Airlines have also stopped passengers taking duty free purchases on board and made them go into the hold instead , I'm sure everyone is aware of this problem , but in trying to stop everyone who in the vast majority of cases are responsible to control themselves and behave moderately and respect other passengers and employees they are going to end up being strictly policed because a mindless minority just can't control themselves .
There are rules already covering alcohol sales and drunken behaviour , it's these that need applying more strongly , rather than punishing the majority that enjoy alcohol responsibly .

Our culture in this country needs to change regarding alcohol , it is a dangerous substance , often considered more " dangerous " than tobacco and cannabis , and it does have regulation in place and that needs to applied to those who just can't control themselves appropriately .

Agree Andy.

I'd be nervous boarding a flight if I could see someone, or a group were obviously worse for wear. There's little anyone can do, up in the air, if they were to turn aggressive.

I think boarding crew hope they will fall asleep, but, for some people, alcohol is a stimulant.

Early hours flights could be the worst in some respects as they'll have a few drinks, no point in going to bed now, just keep drinking.

These people shouldn't even be getting near the plane. Where it wasn't obvious until boarding they should be offloaded. If the plane has taken off then it's up to Ryanair to ensure that they are not serving anyone who looks worse for wear. Punish the offenders , not everyone else.

People might view alcohol as a stimulant in relation that it " loosen you up " but is mainly classified as a depressant and of course everyone's tolerance level is different , the law is that even after a what is estimated to be 2 drinks you are impaired enough not to be able to drive , in that your reactions are already affected , if people are allowed on aircraft in a worse for wear state then their judgement , coordination etc is already affected , some people become disruptive or violent after too many drinks and it's easy to see why things can sometimes get out of hand .
Everyone wants to feel comfortable and relaxed and the process of going through an airport can be a bit stressful at times , but that's no excuse for people to become disruptive and obnoxious and disregard the vast majority who have enough self control
I wish the same level of zero tolerance was shown to drunkeness as to the size of your hand luggage at the gate , it seems one can be done , but not the other ?
At least on the ground there are armed police around to immediately deal with problems , whilst up in air why should cabin crew and other passengers be subjected to this problem .